Systemic Error Podcast

What happened AlterNet reports that the Trump administration asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to undermine the Presidential Records Act, the post-Watergate law establishing that official White House records belong to the government, not personally to the president. The administration’s lawyers were scheduled to argue on October 16 that the law unconstitutionally intrudes on exe...

What happened AlterNet reports that political consultant Chris LaCivita, whom Idaho Gov. Brad Little’s reelection campaign named a senior adviser in February, was also paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to advise the Russia-aligned government of Republika Srpska, an entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina. The New York Times reported on Oct. 6 that LaCivita and another adviser traveled there ahead...

What happened AlterNet reports that economist and Bulwark columnist Catherine Rampell argues the cumulative weight of President Donald Trump’s financial conflicts and economic policies is registering with voters. She cited allegedly suspicious market trades before Trump withdrew threats against Iran, efforts to profit through Truth Social and cryptocurrency, and questions surrounding donations for...

What happened AlterNet reports that Republicans’ 2026 election strategy of portraying voter fraud as rampant may discourage some of their own supporters from voting. The article argues that voters who accept Republican warnings about fraudulent results may conclude that participation is pointless, while Democrats who view those warnings as attempts to undermine the midterms may become more motivat...

What happened Americans who heat their homes with oil face a grim choice: absorb sharply higher bills, cut other spending, or lower the thermostat to potentially unsafe levels. AlterNet reports that heating oil had risen from roughly $2.50 per gallon at the same point in 2025 to $4.63, with prices projected to exceed $6 by deep winter. The National Energy Assistance Directors Association estimated...

What happened AlterNet reports that investor and former journalist Steve Rattner accused President Donald Trump of misrepresenting inflation and gasoline prices while blaming former President Joe Biden for current economic conditions. Appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Rattner said inflation was below 3 percent when Biden left office and had since risen; the article gives both 3 percent and 3.7 p...

What happened AlterNet, citing a ProPublica investigation, reports that federal judges dismissed all 26 resolved Justice Department lawsuits seeking unredacted state voter rolls. Four cases remained pending, one state settled, and the administration appealed most dismissals; the only appeal decided at the time upheld dismissal of the Michigan case. Since September, the Justice Department’s Civil R...

What happened Katie Zacharia was reportedly pushed out of the White House press secretary role after only several days—roughly “half a Scaramucci,” in the joke adopted by critics. AlterNet cites Wall Street Journal reporter Meredith McGraw and an unnamed White House official as reporting that Zacharia was “transitioning out.” President Donald Trump told reporters he had encouraged her to reconside...

What happened AlterNet reports that Trump biographer Seth Abramson interprets rumors of a possible post-midterm White House chief-of-staff change as preparation for an effort to “launch a civil war.” That is Abramson’s warning, not an established plan. The article provides no direct evidence that President Donald Trump has decided to replace Susie Wiles for that purpose. According to the report, T...

What happened AlterNet reports that President Donald Trump mocked the weight and gender of Blake, a 29-year-old protester who called him a “fascist” and wore a homemade “release the Epstein files” shirt at a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, on October 12. Blake told PunchUp that three men grabbed her, hit her, and pulled her hair before she was forcibly removed from the area, while her calls for help we...

What happened AlterNet reports that President Donald Trump’s administration and political network are consumed by overlapping personnel fights, leaks and public recriminations. Politico reported that Trump had privately discussed replacing White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and considered possible successors; Trump denied the report and declared his “COMPLETE confidence” in her. The turmoil ex...

What happened Donald Trump abandoned a plan to livestream the December 3 firing-squad execution of Nidal Hasan after overwhelming public opposition made the spectacle politically costly. AlterNet reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the broadcast on October 8 and called it a “no-brainer”; Trump initially approved, then announced on October 15 that the execution would proceed witho...

What happened AlterNet argues that Republican-led states are removing large numbers of registrations through confirmation notices, database matching and other list-maintenance procedures that can leave eligible voters missing from election-day rolls. The article warns that these practices could influence future elections, but it does not establish that the next election has already been decided. T...

What happened AlterNet reports that CBS News foreign editor Shayndi Raice warned journalists during a Tuesday staff meeting that refusing management directives could constitute insubordination and provide legal grounds for firing. Leaked audio captured Raice telling employees that CBS was not their personal publishing platform and that senior editors controlled what the network aired. The confront...

What happened AlterNet reports that Jami Floyd, a former friend and colleague of Kimberly Guilfoyle, considers Guilfoyle’s public trajectory a warning about choosing proximity to power over earlier principles. Floyd knew Guilfoyle as a rising San Francisco lawyer in the 1990s and later watched her politics and public persona change during her years at Fox News. According to Floyd’s Daily Beast opi...

What happened AlterNet reports that Trisha Hope, a Houston resident who attended 42 Donald Trump rallies, broke with him after his response during a July 8, 2025 cabinet meeting to a question about a missing minute in Jeffrey Epstein’s jailhouse surveillance footage. Trump replied, “Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?” Hope told CNN that the remark made her conclude he did not care about...

What happened AlterNet, citing reporting by The Bulwark, says concerns about Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley’s ability to serve have grown after several public incidents: a rambling answer about Judge James Boasberg, reportedly mistaking a staffer for a journalist, and apparent difficulty following prepared questions during hearings. The reporting does not establish a medical diagnosis or prove inc...

What happened AlterNet reports that President Donald Trump has asked allies whether he should replace White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and has discussed possible successors, including Stephen Miller, Steve Witkoff and Bill Pulte. Politico attributed those conversations to four people it said had direct knowledge; Trump denied the report and declared that Wiles retained his “complete confiden...

What happened AlterNet, citing emails obtained by POLITICO, reports that Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau repeatedly ordered special representative Paolo Zampolli to stop conducting foreign-policy work beyond cultural diplomacy. Zampolli nevertheless met foreign officials about energy, investment, aviation, and other commercial matters, while insisting that he answered directly to Pres...

What happened AlterNet reports that none of the rural and suburban Iowa voters in a focus group—all of whom voted for Donald Trump in 2024—said they were supporting or leaning toward Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ashley Hinson. Some were considering Democrat Josh Turek, though they wanted clearer explanations of his plans. Participants called Hinson “out of touch” and a longtime Trump “yes” vot...

What happened AlterNet reports that former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele called President Donald Trump an “immature child” and a “man child” after Trump posted an AI-generated video of himself playing with a tiger. The post followed Trump’s comment on the October 10, 2026, death of former child actor William Chapman, who was killed after entering a Siberian tiger enclosure...

What happened AlterNet argues that President Donald Trump’s strategy for silencing critics is selective intimidation: use federal investigations, prosecutions, employment actions, regulatory pressure, and private legal threats against visible opponents so others anticipate the cost of speaking. Its central example is a reported Homeland Security Investigations raid on Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Washington...

What happened AlterNet columnist D. Earl Stephens argues that Donald Trump’s campaign appearances were hurting Republican candidates shortly before midterm elections. He calls the schedule a “Torture Tour”: Republicans had tied themselves to Trump, could not restrain him and, in Stephens’s telling, were losing voters whenever he spoke. The column describes Trump arriving in Anchorage, Alaska, on a...

What happened AlterNet reports that a 60 Minutes episode featuring Secret Service director Sean M. Curry drew 6.061 million viewers, including 767,000 adults ages 25–54, and finished behind the CBS dramas that followed it. The reporting does not establish that Curry’s interview caused the weak audience, so the headline’s claim that it “tanked” the ratings exceeds the evidence. The episode’s perfor...

What happened Trump donor Eric Deters told Daily Beast podcast host Joanna Coles that he plans to sue Kimberly Guilfoyle for defamation and, through that lawsuit, seek subpoenas and depositions from Donald Trump Jr. and others. As AlterNet reported, no suit or subpoena had yet been filed; Deters was describing what he intended to do “in the coming months.” The dispute followed leaked messages that...